FA+
Shop
here we go again in the Upper Room #XLV
15 years ago
General
Sermon tonight! Sorry, I had some college stuff to get organized...like paying tuition on classes that start next week....yup.
~Rev Wally Bear
Touching Heart
Read Matthew 13:1-15
Jesus said, "This people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them."
-Matthew 13:15 (NIV)
I'VE started playing a guitar again after a lapse of more than 35 years. I haven't played since I was a teenager, and I had forgotten the first major obstacle to playing: tender fingers. Guitar players must build up a layer of callouses on the fingertips so that pressing the strings doesn't hurt.
I finally have a sufficient layer of callouses on my fingertips. But when I pick up a coin, stroke my daughter's hair, or touch my own face, through the callouses I feel only the pressure of an object, not the object itself.
Now I can better understand the barrier between the Lord and me: My heart has become calloused. The Holy Spirit speaks to us within our heart. In right relationship with God, we open our calloused hearts to the presence of the Holy Spirit. If we do, we will not be among those who hear and do not understand, who see but are blind, who touch but do not feel.
Stanley Hurst (Alabama, USA)
Prayer
Dear God, forgive us for taking our relationship with you for granted. Soften our hearts and help us to respond to the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Thought for the Day
Living in right relationship with God keeps the heart soft.
Prayer Focus
Those whose hearts have become calloused
~Rev Wally Bear
Touching Heart
Read Matthew 13:1-15
Jesus said, "This people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them."
-Matthew 13:15 (NIV)
I'VE started playing a guitar again after a lapse of more than 35 years. I haven't played since I was a teenager, and I had forgotten the first major obstacle to playing: tender fingers. Guitar players must build up a layer of callouses on the fingertips so that pressing the strings doesn't hurt.
I finally have a sufficient layer of callouses on my fingertips. But when I pick up a coin, stroke my daughter's hair, or touch my own face, through the callouses I feel only the pressure of an object, not the object itself.
Now I can better understand the barrier between the Lord and me: My heart has become calloused. The Holy Spirit speaks to us within our heart. In right relationship with God, we open our calloused hearts to the presence of the Holy Spirit. If we do, we will not be among those who hear and do not understand, who see but are blind, who touch but do not feel.
Stanley Hurst (Alabama, USA)
Prayer
Dear God, forgive us for taking our relationship with you for granted. Soften our hearts and help us to respond to the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Thought for the Day
Living in right relationship with God keeps the heart soft.
Prayer Focus
Those whose hearts have become calloused
~Rev. Wally Bear
Ask God to remove it from you.
~Rev. Wally Bear